(This article was reprinted in the March 9, 2005 issue of Education Week.)

The "creation"
controversy has splashed down in Gull Lake, Mich. Last spring, according to the
Kalamazoo Gazette, a parent complained that two middle school biology teachers
were giving the concept of "intelligent design" equal treatment in the classroom
with the theory of evolution. The district has
told them to stop, and both are now crying foul, appealing to the community
for help.

"Intelligent
design," or ID, contends that the diversity of life on Earth and the complexity
of some biological systems could not have arisen by means of evolution. To
correct that perceived inadequacy, ID stipulates that an "intelligent designer"
authored the world’s species.

Proponents argue that intelligent design is a serious scientific theory, and
that, at the very least, its existence should be taught in biology classes.
Opponents dismiss it as a superficially secular attempt to inject biblical
creationism into public school classrooms – a Lamb of God in sheep’s clothing.

Michigan isn’t
alone. All told, roughly 40 states are now
embroiled in battles over the teaching of evolution. On Tuesday, the
American Civil Liberties Union and other groups
filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pennsylvania parents objecting to their school
board’s
decision to teach ID. Eugenie C. Scott of the National Center for Science
Education told the Gazette that "by lobbying school boards to include
creationism or weaken evolution in their science curricula, (biblical)
creationists are politicizing science education."

But Ms. Scott
understates the problem — and mislays the blame.

Every aspect of the
public school curriculum, not just science education, is inherently political.
Decisions over what and how to teach are made by elected and appointed
government officials. Because there is only one official state organ of
education, everyone wants it to conform to their own views.

That is impossible.

In a pluralistic
society, there are countless different and incompatible worldviews. Our effort
to serve that diverse audience through a monolithic school system has not only
failed to forge common ground; it has bred animosity and discord.

But this failure of
compelled conformity is no cause for alarm; it is unnecessary to force all
Americans to accept a single view on the origins of man. While there are
certainly issues on which consensus is important in a free society, such as a
commitment to the democratic process, respect for the rule of law and equal
rights for all citizens, the origin of humanity is not among them.

Nor is it clear that
centrally planned public schooling is the best means of nurturing societal
agreement in those special areas where it is important. Research shows private
school students to be as tolerant and
civic-minded as their public school counterparts, and it also shows private
schools to be, if anything,
more meaningfully integrated than public schools.

Private schools,
with their diverse world views, coexist as peacefully as private churches. If
every family in America had the financial resources to choose the public or
private school they preferred, as they would under a
universal education tax credit system, we could enjoy the same harmonious
relations in education that we have experienced in the field of religion. Thanks
to the separation of church and state, American religious life has avoided most
of the political and ideological conflicts that have beset our official state
schools.

And honestly, is
anyone happy with the way schools currently handle this issue?

Adherents of
intelligent design presumably aren’t. They must fight to have their views heard
in the public schools, and when they succeed, they immediately face legal
challenges. Even if ID prevails in court (as
biblical creationism did not), will science teachers present it in a way
that will satisfy its advocates?

These results must
dismay most scientists, and they should cause intelligent design advocates to
question the wisdom of entrusting their own views to the public schools.

Back in Gull Lake,
both sides are digging in their heels, and accusations of miseducation and
brainwashing have started to fly. So long as we stick with a single official
state school system, however, there will always be ideological winners and
losers, and such antagonism will remain.

Wouldn’t we all be
better off giving school choice a chance instead?

#####

Andrew J. Coulson is
senior fellow for education policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a
research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to
reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the
Center are properly cited.